Faced with long-standing calls for a tax on sugary drinks, industry players including Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Asahi Beverages and Frucor Suntory have signed a new agreement that will apply to all non-alcoholic drinks produced by members of the Australian Beverages Council.

Some drinks with the highest sugar levels, including Coke, won't be changed as a result of the agreement, with manufacturers instead expected to ramp up low-sugar alternatives and reduce some serving sizes.

An independent auditor will review the commitment in two components: a 10 per cent reduction by 2020 and the full 20 per cent cut by 2025.

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The Coalition and Labor are opposed to a tax on sugary drinks.

The Greens took plans for a blanket 20 per cent tax on soft drinks to the 2016 election, designed to tackle obesity and worth as much as $500 million a year to the budget bottom line.

"Today's sugar reduction commitment by the non-alcoholic beverages sector is a clear sign that industry is taking additional steps to support our initiatives to maintain a healthy diet and to lead an active life," Mr Hunt said.

"It is particularly important that the industry has worked constructively with a number of farming and agricultural groups, particularly those in the sugarcane growing industry ahead of this announcement."

Australian Beverages Council chief executive Geoff Parker said calls for a tax on sugary drinks were a minority position, with the industry already taking difficult and costly action to reduce sugar in products.

"What this pledge for a 20 per cent reduction by 2025 really achieves is about speed and about scale, ramping up that reformulation program, the renovation of the industry's portfolio to make some real change," he said.

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"Consumers and households don't want governments in their shopping trolley, they don't want governments poking around in their fridges and they certainly don't want governments in their pantries, other than what's already the case with the GST."

The government and Labor remain opposed to a new tax on sugary drinks. Jeff Chiu

Published in the Medical Journal of Australia, the research showed in 2011-12 Australians consumed an average of 60 grams of "free" sugars each day – the equivalent of 14 teaspoons of sugar a day, above the recommended intake of less than 10 per cent of total energy intake coming from sugars added to foods and drinks by the manufacturer.

For the recommended average adult daily diet of 8700 kilojoules, 5 per cent free sugar is equivalent to six teaspoons of added sugar.

Greens leader Richard Di Natale said the industry-led changes had left Australia with confusing and inaccurate product labelling.

"There's 16 teaspoons of sugar in a bottle of Coke," he said.

"Under this new arrangement there will be almost 13, which is still the total recommended daily intake of sugar in Australia. This doesn't go anywhere near far enough to dealing with this public health crisis and that's because these big multinational corporations are in the business of making profits, not making smart health policy," Senator Di Natale said.